Every year my class participates in the annual Metz Science Fair. Even though our school is very good about setting up classes for our parents to learn how to support their child during an at home science experiment, I rarely have a parent choose to work with their own child on an experiment at home. So each year, as a class, we brainstorm ideas that seem interesting to us to explore.

It is that time of year, when the kids are so excited you can barely keep them focused and you are probably counting down the days until winter break with more bliss then they are! This past Friday, Metz just had a lovely “Winter Holidays Around the World” program with songs being sung about Kwanzaa, Hanukah, Christmas, New Years Eve and more. It was a great learning experience and made me realize I probably should have posted some of these holiday learning ideas last week! I suppose it is better late then never! Maybe you will be able to find one or two to try this week and you can save some other favorite ideas for next year.

Last week in my blog Grant Writing I, I listed some of my favorite grants, many of which I had success with. Of course I can’t possibly share all grants that are available, so I wanted to follow up with links to websites that have many different types of grants, scholarships and contests listed.

With Winter Break almost upon us, I understand the last thing that many teachers want to do is school work. While I find the break an excellent time to rest my mind from the day-to-day pressures of teaching, I also like to reflect and consider my classroom's needs or special projects I might like to involve my students in the next school year.

With the first several of months of school fresh in our minds, it is an excellent time to consider educational items you might want for your classroom to enhance your students learning. How many times have you thought "If I only had a.." or "I wish I could afford to.." Taking some time to organize a grant proposal might allow you to acquire the funds you need to make your idea come to life; making a regular unit or project more exciting and meaningful for your students.

The holidays always inspire me to create fun and exciting learning activities and Thanksgiving is no exception. I love taking a real life event from my student’s lives to extend learning through language arts, math, science and creative expression activities. It makes for a more fulfilling holiday experience for me as well as for my students.

Even though we are a couple of months into the school year, I wanted to give you some link to some informative articles and ideas about using homework in the classroom. It is never to late to add some new twists in your own homework assignments for your students. These recent articles might just give you some ideas to make the ordinary, extraordinary!

One of my favorite traditions we have at Metz Elementary is celebrating Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos. For the Metz community, Day of the Dead is a very important holiday and we celebrate with school-wide participation. The holiday occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. When I moved to Austin from the very Catholic city of New Orleans, Día de los Muertos helped me to feel right at home. I apologize for posting a couple of days later then usual, but I wanted to be able to get some of the fabulous pictures I have to share with you ready for uploading. Hope you enjoy them and I hope you find some ideas to share with your students about this heartfelt celebration of loved ones lost.

One of the first homework assignments I ask my students to complete with their parents is a Baby Name Page. This The Baby Name Page assignment is explained in my article “Homework: Why It is Important”. One of the follow-up activities to complement this assignment corresponds with the incredibly cute book When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her Youth by Jamie Lee Curtis.